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Ranger Boys Blank Richford for Eighth Win

ORLEANS-Lake Region picked up their fourth shutout of the season, upending visiting Richford 4-0 in boys varsity soccer action Friday afternoon in the opening contest of the Rangers’ homecoming weekend.Josh Thibault, Shaquille Urie, Anthony Wright and Alex Beauregard tallied for the Rangers with each score coming in the first half. Thibault and fellow junior Carl Oberg added one assist each.“When you score early and often, you sometimes get out of your game plan,” said Lake Region head coach Tom Evans. “But Richford played hard, and that made it a good a match throughout.”The win wasn’t an automatic one for the 8-2 Lake Region squad. After a slow start, Evans yanked his starting unit.“I thought the first group out there was a little lethargic,” said Evans.It’s been a recent trend for the Rangers, who despite a string of four straight victories, have yet to develop the kind of opening play the veteran head coach is looking for.After a 20 minute break, Evans’ first stringers put together four goals in the final 17 minutes of the first half to open up a comfy halftime lead.Lake Region coasted to their eighth victory in the second half, and yet another shutout for junior keeper Dennis Newland, who has taken over a full time role after splitting the majority of this year’s campaign with sophomore Logan Harper.The second unit took most of the playing time in an evenly played second half.“Keeping disciplined is a key in games this like,” said Evans. “We wanted to play two touch possessive soccer, keep our form and work on the basics.“You can’t get caught up with the score against a team you know you should beat.”Keying on those basics will be important if the Rangers are to pick up crucial road wins to close the season. Three of their final four games are on the road, including games at Division III powers BFA-Fairfax (6-3-1) and at Williamstown (7-3).